Mamdani Faces Renewed Criticism Over His Excuse For Skipping Major NYC Parade

As home of the largest Jewish population outside of Israel, New York City has naturally been the setting for a wide array of pro-Israel events.

But in the wake of Muslim socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s election, the recent Israel Day parade took place with a stand-in grand marshal.

The New York Post covered the initial backlash:

“You know, I said on the campaign trail that I wouldn’t be attending the parade, and I’ve made my views on the Israeli government abundantly clear,” Mamdani said, standing alongside NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch during a security briefing about the event.

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“And I also said on that same campaign that I would have a responsibility as the mayor of the city to ensure the safety and security of each and every New Yorker,” he added.

The parade brings thousands of revelers yearly. 

The celebration along Fifth Avenue draws tens of thousands of revelers annually, including local community groups and students. Tisch will serve as an honorary grand marshal this year.

The top cop, who is Jewish, pointed to herself during the briefing when a reporter asked if anyone would be representing the Mamdani administration at the parade.

“It is the mayor’s decision not to march, and it is my decision to march proudly,” she said.

But some members of the Jewish community weren’t convinced by Mamdani’s reason for ditching the event — pointing out it is a celebration of religious identity and comes at a time when antisemitism continues to roil the city.

“It’s not a policy parade. It’s a Jewish people parade,” Rabbi Joseph Potasnik, executive director of the New York Board of Rabbis, told The Post.

“He can march in the parade and have a different point of view [and] show respect for the Jewish people.”

The mayor’s no-show also sparked some conversation on social media:

Skipping the parade while antisemitism is at record highs in NYC is a bad look politically regardless of your position on Israel-Palestine 👀 there's a difference between foreign policy stance and showing up for your own constituents.

Mamdani just handed his opponents a clean…

— ICHIE MKPO (@ICHIE_MKPO) May 31, 2026

Ex-mayors join Hochul, Tisch and thousands at NYC’s Israel parade — while No-Show Mamdani bizarrely rides bike around town in business suit, no helmet. Read today's cover here: https://t.co/abCMyqTHvH pic.twitter.com/9amw4nuPJU

— New York Post (@nypost) June 1, 2026

Oh well NYC got WHO and WHAT they voted for!!!!! an anti-Jew, Admitted socialist-marxist, devote muslim who puts those views ABOVE AMERICAN values!! If given the chance he will turn NYC into a socialist, government run, disaster!!!

— Carter Vanpeel lll (@carterVanpeelII) May 31, 2026

And Fox News provided this report after Sunday’s parade:

New York Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman, who has long criticized Mamdani, called the mayor “anti-Israel” during his own news conference before the parade began.

“I think that he’s an anti-Semite. I think he’s anti-Israel,” Blakeman said of Mamdani. “One of the first things he did as mayor was he watered down the definition of antisemitism. He speaks out against Israel all the time.”

Blakeman said that while Mamdani “denigrates Israel,” the mayor chooses to not speak out on countries that suppress human rights.

“Never says anything about places like Iran, Russia, China, places that really don’t have the kind of human rights that Israel does,” he said of the mayor. “So we don’t want to see him marching here, because we don’t want a wolf in sheep’s clothing marching in our parade.”

Danny Danon, Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, said it was exciting to see thousands of people come out to celebrate Israel despite Mamdani’s decision to skip the parade.

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“While the mayor chose to boycott the event and turn his back on tens of thousands of Jews and supporters of Israel, the public came in droves to prove that the connection to Israel is stronger than any political campaign,” Danon said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Anyone who thinks they can erase Israel or distance the Jewish community from this city saw a clear answer today on the streets of New York. No one will make us take down the Israeli flag. Not in New York, nor anywhere else in the world.”

Meanwhile, Hochul and Schumer were joined at the parade by other New York leaders like state Attorney General Leticia James.

Here’s some additional coverage from CBS News: